HM Plant Honda's Jonathan Rea talks to MCN

Knockhill double BSB race winner Jonathan Rea wasn’t fastest at the Croft BSB test this week but he was right on the pace. MCN spoke to him about the test, his title aspirations and his hopes for the future.

MCN: Jonathan you ended the test early at Croft. Why was that?

Rea: The knee I hurt in a mountain bike crash before Knockhill was killing me. It wasn’t really bothering me on the bike though and I was able to do 1:20s laps with no real problem.

We worked through all the stuff we needed to test so there wasn’t really much point in doing laps just for the sake of it.

MCN: Your double win has put you right into contention with your team-mate Ryuichi Kiyonari for the title. Ho do you see things panning out now?

Rea: Whatever happens I’ve got to keep finishing races. It’s no so much wining races but I’ve got to keep being on the podium every race.

The championship is wide open. Kiyo’s obviously a threat but Leon Haslam is riding well and so is Greg. We’ve all had some bad weekends but I can’t afford any more.

MCN: Do you think you can win the title?

Rea: I believe we can. Everyone in my side of the team is so highly motivated now after our recent run of wins. You know, this is not an easy championship so winning races really gives you a massive lift.

MCN: It’s cliché, but will there be team orders at all?

Rea: (Laughs) Team orders don’t happen in this team! At least not while either one of us is in a position to fight for the title.

I remember last year when Kiyo was going for the title Neil (Tuxworth – Honda Racing boss) said to me and Karl Harris just not to put any ‘bold’ moves on Kiyo but, if we felt we could win races, then by all means do that. The important thing was not to endanger Kiyo.

MCN: You were going to ride the Kenny Roberts MotoGP Honda. There’s talk of MotoGP deals for next year, and Word Superbikes. So what’s happening?

Rea: Not much at the moment! There’s lots of rumours but the MotoGP season is pretty much in the same state of play as British Superbikes. We’re half-way through the season and everyone is focussed on what they are doing right now.